Sad News

I was so sad to open my email this am to find out Strictly Scrapbooking store in Cerritos, CA is closing it's doors. It was/is my favorite and first scrapbooking store. I took my first class there from Mary Ann. Sophia the owner, my friend Joe have always been so supportive and inspirational in my creative journey I am so grateful for them. Support your local scrapbooking/crafting store.

Learning...

Brandi, Tim and I

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to take two Tim Holtz classes up in Elk Grove, near Sacramento at Stampers Corner. It was a blast! I went with my good friend Brandi, we had a great time. Tim is an amazing teacher and Mario did an amazing job keeping us organized. The staff at Stampers Corner did an amazing job with the event! Brandi and I took two amazing classes, "Exploring Alcohol Inks" on Saturday and "Nostalgic Metal Memories" on Sunday. The Sunday class was 4 hours long! It was like two classes in one. The first class was about making hand made books. The second part was learning about working with embossed metals from

Ten Seconds Studio. We had a fantastic time.

My first handmade book and the sample we made during the Exploring Alcohol inks class.

A detail of the cover of my handmade book, made with embossed metal and Tim Holtz embellishments.

And last a detail of my hand stitched spine of my book, using Tim's "kettle stitch".

And today I signed up for an art journaling class from Orly Avineri at the South Bay School for Adults. I am really excited to start the class next week!

Care For A Cup 'o Tea?

These are some tea cups for an itty bitty book group I belong to. I did some stenciling for the background and then added my image, I also added some Tim Holtz Crackle Paints to them as well. These were very labor intensive because I had to cut out each individual image, front and back. They were a LOT of work but worth it in the end. I just sent them off. I can't wait to receive my book when they are finished, I will show you when I receive it. Click on each image for a larger view.

A video to make you smile

Last night I went to dinner @ Mazzo Pizzaria and then to an "UP" screening with Ed, Patricia, Christina and her boyfriend's son Cameron... Ok, I cried three times during the movie... it is going to be a HUGE hit for Disney/Pixar! Very cute with a lot of heart! Bring your hankies... very sweet...

Here is a video to make you smile... copied from Mary Ann Moss's blog... very cute

The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

Thank you!

I get up for work at 3:15 am for work, yes an UN-GAWDLY hour... I have my coffee and the cats usually meet me and I hop on the internet and parooze some blogs... what do I happen upon this fine morn but my dear Dylan has featured lil' ole me on her blog! She is awesome! Check her out checking me out.... http://www.dyan-reaveley.blogspot.com/

Great Grandpa Barley!

This is a some artwork done with a stencil I cut of an old picture of my Great Grandpa Barley on my father's side. I still need to do some work on it and I need to get better at scanning these but you get the idea...

No FEAR of Color

no fear of color
Originally uploaded by bkasstle

sort of speaks for itself...

heroes 3

heroes 3
Originally uploaded by bkasstle

heroes 3

heroes 2

heroes 2
Originally uploaded by bkasstle

Heroes 2

heroes 1

heroes 1
Originally uploaded by bkasstle

This is part of a series of hand-cut stencils called Heroes.

Please Mum, could I have some more...

I sleepie.... I have to go to work.... For you here is some more of my stencil art. We are learning how to cut sun rays. I also cut the California Republic stencil. I am learning how to use a stencil burner, and by accident how hot they are... OUCH!!! DO NOT TRY THAT @ HOME!!! Take my word for it.

Some will have more added to them but I wanted to post more... These are actually going to all be part of an art journal. I need to add a bit more stuff to time and a bit of journaling.

Have a great weekend!

It is what's inside that counts...

At last working on some stencil journal pages... I love exploring more color and making "mistakes"... enjoy. I took advantage of our 99 degree weather yesterday and did a LOT of spraying. The bottom two pics use my first hand cut stencil. Wonder who that character is?

Inside My Portfolio Covers

Here are pics of my inside covers!

Covers for me journal... Arg....

Ok It is 3:45 am and I am soon off to work! Here is a pic of my stenciled covers. You can't really see it clearly but the center picture on the left is North and South America and the right pic is the rest of the globe. I used stencils from Heidi Swapp, and http://smallstudio.typepad.com/, also a lace placemat for the border, and some punchella for the top pics. Then I applied repeated coats of Maya Mists and Glimmer Mists in copper, gold and red. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it. Have a great day.

Everybody's doin' it!

My friend Mary Ann at dispatchfromla.typepad.com is teaching an online class all about stenciling! From using pre-made stencils to making and cutting your own. All in her marvelous style! I am so excited to start!